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August: a month for last-minute vacations, frantic back to school shopping and the biggest television event of the year. No, not the Super Bowl or the season premiere of Game of Thrones; we're referring to the Emmy Awards, the one night when the best performances and shows of the past year are honored with awards and a host that will inevitably be compared to Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. With just two weeks to go until the ceremony, people are already predicting whether they think Matthew McConaughey will manage to unseat Bryan Cranston's reign of terror or if this will finally be the year that someone besides Jim Parsons get a win, but we're not interested in who will take home the trophies. We'd much rather shed the spotlight on who we think should win, highlighting the actors and shows that have entertained, thrilled and kept us glued to our TV sets all year long. First up in our series — and likely in the show itself — we take a look our picks for the Best Supporting Actor and Actress in a Comedy Series. And the nominees are...
Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series Nominees:Fred Armisen, Portlandia Andre Braugher, Brooklyn Nine-Nine Ty Burrell, Modern Family Adam Driver, Girls Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Modern Family Tony Hale, Veep
Who Should Win?Andre Braugher, as the majestic deadpan police captain Ray Holt on Brooklyn Nine-Nine.
Though it took Brooklyn Nine-Nine a little while to settle into the hilarious ensemble comedy that it’s become, they’ve always had an ace up their sleeve in the form of Braugher’s Captain Ray Holt. Thanks to his pitch-perfect deadpan delivery that somehow manages to convey everything from condescension to amusement to excitement to devastation, and his ability to lend some gravitas to even the most ridiculous of situations, Braugher quickly emerged as one of the show’s funniest performers. Nine-Nine played off of his reputation for intensely serious characters, but also allowed him moments of weirdness – like the episode where he carried two puppies around for no reason, or the sweet afro and moustache that he gets to rock in flashbacks – to create a character that’s full of surprises and is always hard to read. Despite being a supporting actor, Braugher has handily carried several episodes of the first season, and his skill at playing off of everyone else in the cast in hilarious, unexpected ways has helped the writers find the right way to balance all of the strong personalities.
HBO
Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series Nominees:Mayim Bialik, The Big Bang Theory Julie Bowen, Modern Family Anna Chlumsky, VeepAllison Janney, MomKate McKinnon, Saturday Night LiveKate Mulgrew, Orange is the New Black
Who Should Win?Anna Chlumsky, as the vice president's just-barely-hanging-on Chief of Staff Amy Brookheimer on Veep.
This is a tough category, and there are several actresses (Janney, McKinnon, and Mulgrew) that we’d be thrilled to see take home the trophy on Emmy night. Still, it’s Chlumsky’s workaholic, foul-mouthed, Hendrix-texting chief of staff Amy Brookheimer who really stands out, thanks to a season in which she competed for, lost out on, and then earned back the role of managing Selina’s presidential campaign. Though her ability to deliver a well-timed insult or profanity-laden one-liner gets most of the attention, Chlumsky’s also brilliant at playing the quieter moments, when stress, anxiety, disgust or boredom are clear on Amy’s face. Season 3 also gave her the ability to play off of some new characters, and her high-strung frustration is the perfect counterpoint to both Dan’s hyper-competitive nature and Gary’s awkward passiveness. Every time she’s onscreen, Chulmsky seems to be functioning at 120 percent and her performance is intense, exhausting and hilarious, week after week.
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Lions Gate via Everett Collection
When we last left our heroes, they had conquered all opponents in the 74th Annual Hunger Games, returned home to their newly refurbished living quarters in District 12, and fallen haplessly to the cannibalism of PTSD. And now we're back! Hitching our wagons once again to laconic Katniss Everdeen and her sweet-natured, just-for-the-camera boyfriend Peeta Mellark as they gear up for a second go at the Capitol's killing fields.
But hold your horses — there's a good hour and a half before we step back into the arena. However, the time spent with Katniss and Peeta before the announcement that they'll be competing again for the ceremonial Quarter Quell does not drag. In fact, it's got some of the film franchise's most interesting commentary about celebrity, reality television, and the media so far, well outweighing the merit of The Hunger Games' satire on the subject matter by having Katniss struggle with her responsibilities as Panem's idol. Does she abide by the command of status quo, delighting in the public's applause for her and keeping them complacently saturated with her smiles and curtsies? Or does Katniss hold three fingers high in opposition to the machine into which she has been thrown? It's a quarrel that the real Jennifer Lawrence would handle with a castigation of the media and a joke about sandwiches, or something... but her stakes are, admittedly, much lower. Harvey Weinstein isn't threatening to kill her secret boyfriend.
Through this chapter, Katniss also grapples with a more personal warfare: her devotion to Gale (despite her inability to commit to the idea of love) and her family, her complicated, moralistic affection for Peeta, her remorse over losing Rue, and her agonizing desire to flee the eye of the public and the Capitol. Oftentimes, Katniss' depression and guilty conscience transcends the bounds of sappy. Her soap opera scenes with a soot-covered Gale really push the limits, saved if only by the undeniable grace and charisma of star Lawrence at every step along the way of this film. So it's sappy, but never too sappy.
In fact, Catching Fire is a masterpiece of pushing limits as far as they'll extend before the point of diminishing returns. Director Francis Lawrence maintains an ambiance that lends to emotional investment but never imposes too much realism as to drip into territories of grit. All of Catching Fire lives in a dreamlike state, a stark contrast to Hunger Games' guttural, grimacing quality that robbed it of the life force Suzanne Collins pumped into her first novel.
Once we get to the thunderdome, our engines are effectively revved for the "fun part." Katniss, Peeta, and their array of allies and enemies traverse a nightmare course that seems perfectly suited for a videogame spin-off. At this point, we've spent just enough time with the secondary characters to grow a bit fond of them — deliberately obnoxious Finnick, jarringly provocative Johanna, offbeat geeks Beedee and Wiress — but not quite enough to dissolve the mystery surrounding any of them or their true intentions (which become more and more enigmatic as the film progresses). We only need adhere to Katniss and Peeta once tossed in the pit of doom that is the 75th Hunger Games arena, but finding real characters in the other tributes makes for a far more fun round of extreme manhunt.
But Catching Fire doesn't vie for anything particularly grand. It entertains and engages, having fun with and anchoring weight to its characters and circumstances, but stays within the expected confines of what a Hunger Games movie can be. It's a good one, but without shooting for succinctly interesting or surprising work with Katniss and her relationships or taking a stab at anything but the obvious in terms of sending up the militant tyrannical autocracy, it never even closes in on the possibility of being a great one.
3.5/5
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This week’s edition of Leanne’s Spoiler List is packed with so many pre-finale goodies that I’m going to skip a long intro because I’m way too excited for y’all to read ‘em, including how The Vampire Diaries’ one-and-only original lady vampire Claire Holt spills secrets on a blossoming romance for Rebekah in Mystic falls and squashes rumors about a former flame.
Plus, I’ve got jaw-dropping Big Bang Theory news about Sheldon and Amy’s relationship-changing episode and scoop on who is getting an engagement ring in this week’s episode of The Office. I've even seen next week’s Modern Family and Nurse Jackie to bring you all the details before anyone else. So sit back, relax and enjoy being spoiled!
1. The Vampire Diaries: Matbekah
We know know Rebekah will be heading down to New Orleans to join her brothers on The Vampire Diaries spinoff The Originals, but that doesn’t mean she’s abandoning Mystic Falls without another word. She’s got actual friends there, one of which she’s become especially close to in recent episodes: Matt, the group’s token human friend.
That relationship is only going to grow during the final two episodes of the season, Claire Holt tells Hollywood.com. “I think Matt’s going to see a side to Rebekah he’s never seen before. He’s dying to see some of the good qualities that she has. She’s very vindictive — girl is definitely going out for what she wants,” she says. “I think fans will be happy with the outcome. Whether it’s long-lasting or not I don’t know, but it’s definitely going to tie up some loose ends, I think.”
Will things get romantic? We kind of hope so! “I kind of hope so too,” Holt says. “I’ve had a lot of lovely male conquests on that show so Zach Roerig would be welcomed as another.” There’s one thing we shouldn’t look out for as high school graduation approaches, however: Stebekah. Rebekah and Stefan ain’t gonna happen, y’all.
“I think that’s kind of been put to bed for the moment, which I’m more than disappointed about because I adore Paul [Wesley],” Holt spills. “He’s such a great guy and such fun to work with and I love every second of shooting with him. But I don’t think that’s going to go anywhere any time soon. I think that’s just a mutually beneficial race to the cure fling and now it’s kind of over.”
2. The Big Bang Theory: An Elf and Ogre Sitting in a Tree…
By now you all should know how I feel about this show, but for the few Leanne’s List newbies out there, let me reiterate: I love The Big Bang Theory so much that it almost hurts. So you can imagine how disappointed I am now that there are only two new episodes of the season. In order to cheer me up, CBS gifted me with an early viewing of this week’s all-new episode, “The Love Spell Potential” — and goodness gracious it most certainly worked because I can’t stop smiling!
The ladies are thrilled to be heading off to Las Vegas but their plans for a six-way with The Blue Man Group — (Amy’s suggestion, FYI) are put on hold when the trip is cancelled. In order to make the girls feel better for their lost weekend of alcohol-fueled shenanigans, Leonard, Howard and a reluctant Sheldon invite their ladies to join them for an epic quest in the world’s nerdiest game: Dungeons &amp; Dragons. Trust me, this episode makes you actually want to play it!
You'll also get a taste of Howard’s uncanny celebrity impersonations as Dungeon Master (his Nicolas Cage voice is great!) and the group really gets into the imagined action (although I’m pretty sure Penny’s “magic potion” has a lot to do with that). Unfortunately, the episode is not all fun and games because Amy finally reaches her breaking point with Sheldon’s stand-offish un-boyfriend-like behavior and she lets him know it!
But, get excited Shamy fans because there is a BIG revelation with our favorite brainiac couple. I’m talking huge! Let’s just say that Sheldon and Amy have a ridiculously sweet heart-to-heart and finally decides to take a long awaited and very intimate journey together — Dungeon &amp; Dragons style of course! It’s even better than the tiara episode.
3. Modern Family: Pure Family Fun
After tonight there are only two more episodes left of Modern Family this season and next week’s episode —airing May 15 — entitled, “Games People Play,” is three separate storylines of pure family fun. When Phil snags a brand-new RV and takes the family for a quick ride up the coast, Claire is anxiously awaiting for her kids to unleash their inner demons and turn their relaxing daycation into a drama-filled fight. Unfortunately for her, she’s realizing that maybe the kids are not the problem, maybe it’s her. Gasp!
Lily is competing in her very first gymnastics competition and one of her dads (okay, maybe both) really gets into the competitive sprit as they watch their little girl balance on a beam that’s 6 inches off the floor. Gloria and Jay overreact to not being invited to a game of charades.
Looking back, I have absolutely no idea where Gloria and Jay’s newborn baby was during this episode. It was never explained and now I fear for that child’s safety. Oh, and someone (I’m not going to say who) auditioned for The Laker Girls and their routine is fun for the whole family!
4. The Office: Pam and Jim Perfection
Tomorrow’s penultimate episode of The Office, “A.A.R.M.” is 22 minutes of pure magic. This episode has pretty much everything you could ever want: Classic Jim and Dwight shenanigans? Check! A choreographed dance routine? Uh-huh! Amazing Pam and Jim flashbacks that’ll make you cry? Grab a box of tissues because that’s a huge tear-filed yes!
While Andy is off perusing dreams at The Next Great A Cappella Sensation — and pissing off Clay Aiken in the process — the staff at Dunder Mifflin is preparing for the long-awaited premiere of their PBS documentary! It’s all very exciting and extremely sad at the same time. Oh and have you figured out what A.A.R.M. stands for yet? Why, it's Assistant to the Assistant to the Regional manager, of course!
Now that Jim is firmly back at his Dunder Mifflin desk, he is completely embracing his spot in this classic Office position and even going one step further by holding a competition to find his assistant. It’s truly wonderful to see Jim and Dwight finally on the same team, especially when Jim offers his friend some adorably honest and life-changing relationship advice.
There's also a HUGE secret revealed and someone may be getting a ring on their finger. Oh, and Steve Carell returns! Okay, fine it may just be his voice in this episode but, hey, it’s still pretty damn exciting. That's what she said.
5. Nurse Jackie: First Date Jitters
Grab your favorite dress and put on that perfect shade of lipstick because in this Sunday’s all-new episode of Nurse Jackie, we’re tagging along on a date! It’s Jackie’s first date post-split and it’s clear that she’s a bit off her game. Luckily Zoey, Thor, (and pretty much the entire hospital staff) step up to help their flirtation-challenged friend in need.
Overall, Jackie’s date is great: the fish and chips are delicious, Frank’s jokes are hilarious and our leading lady is surprised at how much she’s enjoying her first time being sober while wearing a dress. Unfortunately, the good times are interrupted when a phone call from Jackie’s past sends her into the arms of someone completely unexpected.
Oh and for all the youngsters out there reading this, a piece of advice: don't lie to your mother saying that you’re going to watch The Hunger Games at a friends house and then sneak out to a noisy club that you’re not supposed to be in. Because that's exactly what Grace does and the repercussions are not pretty.
Are you excited to see more Matt and Rebecca flirtations on The Vampire Diaries? Sad to see The Office come to a close? What do you think is going to happen between Sheldon and Amy on The Big Bang Theory? Tell me everything in the comments below!
Additional Reporting by Jean Bentley
Follow Leanne on Twitter @LeanneAguilera
More:Leanne’s Spoiler List: Baby Daddy Drama On 'Glee,' The Vampire Diaries and More! Leanne’s Spoiler List: The Vampire Diaries, Once Upon a Time And More! Leanne’s Spoiler List: Nurse Jackie, Revolution and more!
From Our Partners:Watch Justin Bieber Attacked in Dubai (Celebuzz)33 Child Stars: Where Are They Now? (Celebuzz)

The CW Gets Ready For Summer: The CW's summer programming officially kicks off on Tuesday, July 16 at 8 PM ET/PT with the rebooted hit improv comedy series Whose Line Is It Anyway?, hosted by comedian Aisha Tyler, and the new dating competition Perfect Score. On Monday, July 29 at 9 PM ET/PT, the ballet reality series Breaking Pointe returns for its second season. The Hunger Games-esque reality wilderness competition The Hunt will premiere on Wednesday, July 31 at 9 PM ET/PT. [via press release]
Lohan to Visit Letterman: Lindsay Lohan will appear on Late Show with David Letterman April 9 to promote her upcoming Anger Management role. It will be Lohan’s first Letterman appearance since 2007 and her first public interview since November, and since she will soon begin a court-ordered stint in rehab and has spent the last week partying in Brazil, there is no shortage of scandalous, controversial topics for Letterman to cover. What will he choose to discuss? [Vulture]
One Mother of a Documentary: To celebrate Mother’s Day, Lifetime will premiere the documentary Dear Mom, Love Cher, revealing the extraordinary life story and perseverance of Cher’s mother, Georgia Holt, on Monday, May 6, at 10 PM ET/PT. The hourlong special includes unprecedented access to the family and features a never-before-heard duet performance with Holt and Cher, along with the long-lost recordings Holt taped more than three decades ago that Cher has re-mastered for commercial release later this year, making her mother’s lifelong dream a reality. "This project started as a gift for my mom’s 86th birthday. Like most things in my family, it was initiated by my sister Georganne, who asked me if I could update mom’s album. So I went big (I’m known in the family for doing that)," Cher says. "My sister and I are proud of our mom and we want to share her with the world." [Via Press Release]
Killer Series Order: A&amp;E's pilot Those Who Kill is nearing a deal to get a series order. Starring Chloë Sevigny and James D’Arcy, the show is an adaptation of a Danish format and revolves around police detective Catherine Jensen (Sevigny) and forensic profiler Thomas Schaffer (D’Arcy), who possess a deep understanding of the serial killers they hunt. Thomas is described as a handsome and intellectual college psychology teacher with a PhD who focuses on serial killer behavior. [Deadline]
CSI Puts a Face to a Name: You'll finally be able to put a face to Capt. Jim Brass' never-before-seen wife on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation: Annabella Sciorra will guest star as Nancy in a case that hits close to home for the Brass family, first appearing in the season finale and returning for the 14th season premiere. During the finale, titled "Skin in the Game," the team will investigate the disappearance of Ellie Brass (Teal Redmann), the captain's stepdaughter who was last seen in CSI's sixth season. The episode will explore Brass' troubled marriage and the couple's infidelities. [THR]
Global Journey Headed to HBO: HBO Films is developing original movie The Man Who Walked Around the World, based on the book of the same name by David Kunst and Clinton Trowbridge. It chronicles the real life adventures of the Kunst brothers. On June 20, 1970, David and his brother John walked East out of Waseca, Minnesota with a pack mule named Willie Makeit. On October 5, 1974, David walked back into Waseca, Minnesota, this time from the West, becoming the first person confirmed to have circled the land mass of the earth on foot. David started off the journey with his brother John, who was killed by bandits in Afghanistan in 1972, and was then joined by his other brother, Pete, in a show of support. The two completed the trip together. [Deadline]
Follow Sydney on Twitter: @SydneyBucksbaum
[Photo Credit: Cassie Wright/Getty Images]
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Robert Zemeckis is a blockbuster director at heart. Action has never been an issue for the man behind Back to the Future. When he puts aside the high concept adventures for emotional human stories — think Forrest Gump or Cast Away — he still goes big. His latest Flight continues the trend revolving the story of one man's fight with alcoholism around a terrifying plane crash. Zemeckis expertly crafts his roaring centerpiece and while he finds an agile performer in Denzel Washington the hour-and-a-half of Flight after the shocking moment can't sustain the power. The "big" works. The intimate drowns.
Washington stars as Whip Whitaker a reckless airline pilot who balances his days flying jumbo jets with picking up women snorting lines of cocaine and drinking himself to sleep. Although drunk for the flight that will change his life forever that's not the reason the plane goes down — in fact it may be the reason he thinks up his savvy landing solution in the first place. Writer John Gatins follows Whitaker into the aftermath madness: an investigation of what really happened during the flight Whitaker's battle to cap his addictions and budding relationships that if nurtured could save his life.
Zemeckis tops his own plane crash in Cast Away with the heart-pounding tailspin sequence (if you've ever been scared of flying before Flight will push into phobia territory). In the few scenes after the literal destruction Washington is able to convey an equal amount of power in the moments of mental destruction. Whitaker is obviously crushed by the events the bottle silently calling for him in every down moment. Flight strives for that level of introspection throughout eventually pairing Washington with equally distraught junkie Nicole (Kelly Reilly). Their relationship is barely fleshed out with the script time and time again resorting to obvious over-the-top depictions of substance abuse (a la Nic Cage's Leaving Las Vegas) and the bickering that follows. Washington's Whitaker hits is lowest point early sitting there until the climax of the film.
Sharing screentime with the intimate tale is the surprisingly comical attempt by the pilot's airline union buddy (Bruce Greenwood) and the company lawyer (Don Cheadle) to get Whitaker into shape. Prepping him for inquisitions looking into evidence from the wreckage and calling upon Whitaker's dealer Harling (John Goodman) to jump start their "hero" when the time is right the two men do everything they can to keep any blame being placed upon Whitaker by the National Transportation Safety Board investigators. The thread doesn't feel relevant to Whitaker's plight and in turn feels like unnecessary baggage that pads the runtime.
Everything in Fight shoots for the skies — and on purpose. The music is constantly swelling the photography glossy and unnatural and rarely do we breach Washington's wild exterior for a sense of what Whitaker's really grappling with. For Zemeckis Flight is still a spectacle film with Washington's ability to emote as the magical special effect. Instead of using it sparingly he once again goes big. Too big.
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A kids’ movie without the cheeky jokes for adults is like a big juicy BLT without the B… or the T. Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted may have a title that sounds like it was made up in a cartoon sequel laboratory but when it comes to serving up laughs just think of the film as a BLT with enough extra bacon to satisfy even the wildest of animals — or even a parent with a gaggle of tots in tow. Yes even with that whole "Afro Circus" nonsense.
It’s not often that we find exhaustively franchised films like the Madagascar set that still work after almost seven years. Despite being spun off into TV shows and Christmas specials in addition to its big screen adventures the series has not only maintained its momentum it has maintained the part we were pleasantly surprised by the first time around: great jokes.
In this third installment of the series – the trilogy-maker if you will – directing duo Eric Darnell and Tom McGrath add Conrad Vernon (director Monsters Vs. Aliens) to the helm as our trusty gang swings back into action. Alex the lion (Ben Stiller) Marty the zebra (Chris Rock) Gloria the hippo (Jada Pinkett Smith) and Melman the giraffe (David Schwimmer) are stuck in Africa after the hullaballoo of Madagascar 2 and they’ll do anything to get back to their beloved New York. Just a hop skip and a jump away in Monte Carlo the penguins are doing their usual greedy schtick but the zoo animals catch up with them just in time to catch the eye of the sinister animal control stickler Captain Dubois (Frances McDormand). And just like that the practically super human captain is chasing them through Monte Carlo and the rest of Europe in hopes of planting Alex’s perfectly coifed lion head on her wall of prized animals.
Luckily for pint-sized viewers Dubois’ terrifying presence is balanced out by her sheer inhuman strength uncanny guiles and Stretch Armstrong flexibility (ah the wonder of cartoons) as well as Alex’s escape plan: the New Yorkers run away with the European circus. While Dubois’ terrifying Doberman-like presence looms over the entire film a sense of levity (which is a word the kiddies might learn from Stiller’s eloquent lion) comes from the plan for salvation in which the circus animals and the zoo animals band together to revamp the circus and catch the eye of a big-time American agent. Sure the pacing throughout the first act is practically nonexistent running like a stampede through the jungle but by the time we're palling around under the big top the film finds its footing.
The visual splendor of the film (and man is there a champion size serving of it) the magnificent danger and suspense is enhanced to great effect by the addition of 3D technology – and not once is there a gratuitous beverage or desperate Crocodile Dundee knife waved in our faces to prove its worth. The caveat is that the soundtrack employs a certain infectious Katy Perry ditty at the height of the 3D spectacular so parents get ready to hear that on repeat until the leaves turn yellow.
But visual delights and adventurous zoo animals aside Madagascar 3’s real strength is in its script. With the addition of Noah Baumbach (Greenberg The Squid and the Whale) to the screenwriting team the script is infused with a heightened level of almost sarcastic gravitas – a welcome addition to the characteristically adult-friendly reference-heavy humor of the other Madagascar films. To bring the script to life Paramount enlisted three more than able actors: Vitaly the Siberian tiger (Bryan Cranston) Gia the Leopard (Jessica Chastain) and Stefano the Italian Sealion (Martin Short). With all three actors draped in European accents it might take viewers a minute to realize that the cantankerous tiger is one and the same as the man who plays an Albuquerque drug lord on Breaking Bad but that makes it that much sweeter to hear him utter slant-curse words like “Bolshevik” with his usual gusto.
Between the laughs the terror of McDormand’s Captain Dubois and the breathtaking virtual European tour the Zoosters’ accidental vacation is one worth taking. Madagascar 3 is by no means an insta-classic but it’s a perfectly suited for your Summer-at-the-movies oasis.

Enigmatic and deliberate Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy makes no reservations while unraveling its heady spy story for better or worse. The film based on the bestselling novel by John Le Carre is purposefully perplexing effectively mirroring the central character George Smiley's (Gary Oldman) own mind-bending investigation of the British MI6's mole problem. But the slow burn pacing clinical shooting style and air of intrigue only go so far—Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy sports an incredible cast that can't dramatically translate the movie's impenetrable narrative. Almost from the get go the movie collapses under its own weight.
After a botched mission in Hungary that saw his colleague Jim (Mark Strong) gunned down in the streets Smiley and his boss Control (John Hurt) are released from the "Circus" (codename for England's Secret Intelligence Service). But soon after Smiley is brought back on board as an impartial observer tasked to uncover the possible infiltration of the organization. The former agent already dealing with the crippling of his own marriage attempts to sift through the history and current goings on of the Circus narrowing his hunt down to four colleagues: Percy aka "Tinker" (Toby Jones) Bill aka "Tailor" (Colin Firth) Roy aka "Soldier" (Ciaran Hinds) and Toy aka "Poor Man" (David Dencik). Working with Peter (Benedict Cumberbatch) a conflicted younger member of the service and Ricki (Tom Hardy) a rogue agent who has information of his own Smiley slowly uncovers the muddled truth—occasionally breaking in to his own work place and crossing his own friends to do so.
Describing Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy as dense doesn't seem complicated enough. The first hour of the monster mystery moves at a sloth's pace trickling out information like the tedious drips of a leaky faucet. The talent on display is undeniable but the characters Smiley included are so cold that a connection can never be made. TTSS sporadically jumps around from past to present timelines without any indication: a tactic that proves especially confusing when scenes play out in reoccurring locations. It's not until halfway through that the movie decides to kick into high gear Smiley's search for a culprit finally becoming clear enough to thrill. A film that takes its time is one thing but Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy does so without any edge or hook.
What the movie lacks in coherency it makes up for in style and thespian gravitas. Director Tomas Alfredson has assembled some of the finest British performers working today and they turn the script's inaccessible spy jargon into poetry. Firth stands out as the group's suave slimeball a departure from his usual nice guy roles. Hardy assures us he's the next big thing once again as the agency's resident moppet a lover who breaks down after a romantic fling uncovers horrifying truth. Oldman is given the most difficult task of the bunch turning the reserved contemplative Smiley into a real human. He half succeeds—his observational slant in the beginning feels like an extension of the movie's bigger problems but once gets going in the second half of the film he's quite a bit of fun.
Alfredson constructs Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy like a cinematic architect each frame dripping with perfectly kitschy '70s production design and camera angles that make the spine tingle. He creates paranoia through framing similar to the Coppola's terrifying The Conversation but unlike that film TTSS doesn't have the characters or story to match. The movie strives to withhold information and succeeds—too much so. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy wants us to solve a mystery with George Smiley but it never clues us in to exactly why we should want to.

The God of Legion secular Hollywood’s latest Biblically-inspired action flick is old-school an angry spiteful Almighty with a penchant for Old Testament theatrics. Fed up with humanity’s decadent warmongering ways He’s decided to pull the plug on the whole crazy experiment and start over from scratch.
Fortunately for us the God of Legion is also a rather lazy fellow. Instead of doing the apocalyptic work himself and wiping us out with a giant flood which worked perfectly well last time He opts to delegate the task to His army of angels — a questionable strategy that starts to fall apart when the archangel charged with leading the planned extermination Michael (Paul Bettany) refuses to comply.
Michael who unlike his boss still harbors affection for our sorry species abandons his post and descends to earth where inside the swollen belly of Charlie (Adrianne Palicki) an unwed mother-to-be working as a waitress in an out-of-the-way diner sits humanity’s lone hope for survival. Why is this particular baby so important? Is it the one destined to lead us to victory over Skynet? Heaven knows — Legion reveals little details its script devoid of actual scripture. What is clear is that God’s celestial hitmen want the kid whacked before it’s born.
But Michael won’t let humanity fall without a fight. Armed with a Waco-sized arsenal of assault weapons he hunkers down with the diner’s patrons a largely superfluous collection of thinly-sketched caricatures from various demographic groups led by Dennis Quaid as the diner’s grizzled owner Tyrese Gibson as a hip-hop hustler and Lucas Black as a simple-minded country boy.
Together they mount a heroic final stand against hordes of angels who’ve taken possession of “weak-willed” humans turning kindly old grandmas and mild-mannered ice cream vendors into snarling ravenous foul-mouthed beasts. They descend upon the ramshackle diner in a series of full-frontal assaults commanded by the archangel Gabriel (Kevin Durand) the George Pickett of End of Days generals.
Beneath its superficial religious facade Legion is really just a run-of-the-mill zombie flick a Biblical I Am Legend. Bettany an actor accustomed to smaller dramatic roles in films like A Beautiful Mind and The Da Vinci Code looks perfectly at ease in his first major action role wielding machine guns and bowie knives with equal aplomb. Conversely first-time director Scott Stewart a former visual effects artist does little to prove himself worthy of such a promotion serving up some impressive CGI work but not much else worthy of note.

The standard biopic plotline based on the life story of Carl Brashear follows the uneducated sharecropper's son (Gooding) as he braves 1950s-era racial discrimination for the right to risk his life in one of the most dangerous occupations in the armed services. At the Navy's elite salvage school in New Jersey master diver Billy Sunday (Robert De Niro) gives Brashear the "Officer and a Gentleman" treatment singling him out for special punishment at the request of the base's insane racist commander (Hal Holbrook). Will the hero overcome the obstacles in his path to becoming a master diver himself?
Gooding's glowing likability is the main factor keeping the film's saintly conception of Brashear from getting annoying fast. The one-dimensional character lacks a single flaw for an actor to grab onto but Gooding's enthusiasm is contagious (remember that Oscar speech?) and he gets surprising mileage out of it. De Niro's trademark intensity is put to only minimal use in a variation of the cantankerous drill sergeant part familiar from half the military flicks ever made.
George Tillman Jr. ("Soul Food") delivers some effective if obvious action-drama in the film's first half which chronicles Brashear's tireless efforts to earn his Navy flippers. Unfortunately Scott Marshall Smith's screenplay gets a bit water-logged dealing with the hero's subsequent career both above and below the waves. (One key development closely parallels John Wayne's role as a Navy flier in another true story 1957's "The Wings of Eagles.) All this sets up a particularly weak courtroom finale reminiscent of another slew of movies including "A Few Good Men" and "Rules of Engagement."

It means that what little plot there is will be formulaic and predictable. It means a dashing hero will spout pithy one-liners while his sidekicks will try to be funny and fail. But there will also be a cool helicopter crash and a lot of firepower and maybe even some blood and guts. Cool! On that basis S.W.A.T. does not disappoint. It doesn't much matter that the villain of the story a drug trafficker/murderer/arms dealer called Alex Montel (Olivier Martinez) only really comes on the scene in the last 45 minutes or so or that until then the villain is any criminal anywhere in the city that comes in contact with the newly formed yet much-maligned five-person S.W.A.T. team that's the center of the story. Led by Sgt. "Hondo" Harrelson (Samuel L. Jackson) the team is composed mostly of the force's unreliable renegades and unwanted rejects: Jim Street (Colin Farrell) T.J. McCabe (Josh Charles) Chris Sanchez (Michelle Rodriguez) Michael Boxer (Brian Van Holt) and Deke Kaye (LL Cool J). After an intense training period and a few impressive successes the underdog team is called in to save the day when Montel makes a televised offer of $100 million to anyone who can break him out of jail--and L.A.'s criminal element comes out in force to do so.
The lack of a plot during the first hour and a half of this movie is probably why the studio is euphemistically billing it as "character-driven." It's kind of like saying that tiny efficiency apartment you're renting is "cozy." Don't let them get one over on you though; these characters are every bit as shallow as you expect gun-toting action heroes to be. If you want to know what drives somebody to tackle a profession that requires them to shoot people in cold blood on an almost daily basis you won't find out watching S.W.A.T.. Farrell at least seems to want to get at the underbelly of the S.W.A.T. psychology but his stereotypically heroic character lacks the complexity that would allow him to do it. So Farrell rolls those limpid brown eyes wildly in their sockets as if he's trying to let out his inner serial killer and mumbles his way through the lines. Jackson on the other hand doesn't even try to give us more. He simply phones this one in ("$20 million? Summer blockbuster? Sure I'll do it. What's it about again?"). Fortunately Rodriguez is more bearable as the tough Sanchez--she lights up the screen and has great timing--and Martinez makes a very sexy bad guy.
The amount of gun violence in S.W.A.T. is particularly startling even for a big blockbuster because the aforementioned shallow characters never really reflect on what they do. The film justifies its violence in one line of dialogue--"S.W.A.T. is a life saving organization not a life taking one"--yet we only meet one person whose life was saved and even she took a bullet in the process. But we do see an awful lot of nameless faceless criminals get blown to bits. Don't get me wrong; I'm no Joe Lieberman. I loved Oliver Stone's Natural Born Killers and I think Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs are among the best movies ever made. It's not that there's even anything wrong with a good ol' fashioned shoot-'em-up movie--although how S.W.A.T. ever got a PG-13 rating is beyond me. Just don't patronize the audience with some false justification for blowing away half the cast and most of the extras. We're really much smarter than that.